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Welcome back to Fridays with Jim Korkis! Jim, the dean of Disney historians, writes about Walt Disney World history every Friday on yourfirstvisit.net.

YOUR PERSONAL DISNEY LIBRARY (33)

By Jim Korkis

• The Art of Disney Costuming by Jeff Kurtti

This month many readers are thinking about Halloween costumes, and some in particular of Disney Halloween costumes. Sometimes people will buy costumes, and other times try to use their own skills and cleverness to piece together an acceptable version of their favorite character for themselves or their children.

So, The Art of Disney Costuming is highly appropriate to review this month. When most Disney fans think of Disney costumes, they probably immediately think of the costumes that appeared in Disney movies (both live-action and animation) and television. Some of those costumes are iconic and are actually trademarked.

For instance, Snow White’s costume is trademarked not just for the actual colors but the proportion of those colors. Since the character is public domain, Disney does not want someone coming up with a character too reminiscent of the Disney version.

Some fans might even think of the costumes for audio-animatronics characters. I remember spending an hour listening to Alice Davis, who had costumed It’s A Small World and Pirates of the Caribbean, regale a group of us with stories about the various challenges.

Because of how they move, different parts of a costume on an audio-animatronics character will wear out more quickly, like the elbows. Also the costume has to be designed so it can be removed since you can’t move the arms and legs to pull off a shirt or pants.

That situation, of course, relates to Walt Disney World but the reason I am doing this review is because this book also touches on cast member costumes. Walt Disney World has one of the largest working wardrobes in the world. Cast members are told that they are not wearing uniforms but are wearing costumes because they are “on stage” and are part of a larger story being told in their area.

I remember when I was a “friend” of Merlin, I actually had three of the exact same costume. One I was wearing as I performed. The second was in Wardrobe for back-up in case something happened when I was on stage. The third was in the wash and being checked for repairs. The three rotated during the week. That is just for one performer. Mickey Mouse has over a hundred different costumes because of special occasions, events and more.

Later, when I worked backstage at Epcot, I still checked out shirts, pants and more from Wardrobe just like the other people I worked with in that same area.

The Art of Disney Costuming is meant to be a companion to a D23 exhibit in 2019. It is 11 by 14 inches, so it is so large to showcase beautiful color photos and concept sketches, but only 176 pages long, so some of your favorites may be missing.

The abbreviated length prevents more information about each individual costume from being shared, and the book concentrates more on costumes created in the last two decades rather than some of the classic pieces. The book is divided into sections and has an extensive index, so it is fairy easy to find what is being shown. However, keep in mind that the book is more an overview than an in-depth study.

Author Jeff Kurti is one of my favorite Disney authors. Not only is he knowledgeable and accurate, but when he produces books for Disney Editions, he is very skillful in maneuvering through the many company restrictions to still provide interesting and unique information that cannot be found anywhere else.

I always enjoy that he includes sidebars, and in this book they focuse on some of the costumers who don’t usually get recognition, like Chuck Keehne who made the first Mouseketeer ears for the original television show among many other accomplishments.

Kurtti is the author of over two dozen books as well as being a writer-director of documentary content. He has worked for Walt Disney Imagineering and Corporate Special Projects. He recently co-authored a book on the Disney monorails.

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Thanks, Jim!  And come back next Friday for more from Jim Korkis!

In the meantime, check out his books, including his new Halloween-appropriate Vault of Walt Volume 9: Halloween Edition, and soon-to-be-released Hidden Treasures of the Disney Cruise Line.

Follow yourfirstvisit.net on Facebook or Twitter or Pinterest!!

DISNEY WORLD NEXT WEEK: OCTOBER 10 TO OCTOBER 18, 2020

The material below details next week’s Disney World operating hours, Extra Magic Hours, parades, and fireworks.

Things are … a little different… as Disney World re-opens.  See this for park previews and key insights.

OPERATING HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 10/10-10/18/20

The Magic Kingdom will be open from 9a-8p 10/10 through 10/12, 9a-6p 10/13 through 10/15, and 9a-8p 10/16 through 10/18

Epcot will be open from 11a-9p 10/10 through 10/12, 11a to 7p 10/13 through 10/15, and 11a-9p 10/16 through 10/81

Disney’s Hollywood Studios will be open from 10a-7p every day

Disney’s Animal Kingdom will be open from 8a-6p 10/10 through 10/12, 9a-5p 10/13 through 10/15, and 8a-6p 10/16 through 10/18

EXTRA MAGIC HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 10/10-10/18/20

There will be no Extra Magic Hours until further notice.

PARADES AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 10/10-10/18/20

There will be no parades until further notice.

FIREWORKS AND EVENING SHOWS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 10/10-10/18/20

There will be no evening shows until further notice.

SHOW SCHEDULES FOR WALT DISNEY WORLD 10/10-10/18/20

See Steve Soares’ site here. Click the park names at its top for show schedules.

Follow yourfirstvisit.net on Facebook or Twitter or Pinterest!!

Welcome back to Fridays with Jim Korkis! Jim, the dean of Disney historians, writes about Walt Disney World history every Friday on yourfirstvisit.net.

FLORIDA’S TOWER OF TERROR: THE MOVIE

By Jim Korkis

While it has been cited that the design of the architecture of The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror in Florida was inspired by the Biltmore Hotel, Mission Inn and even elements from the Chateau Marmont in old Hollywood, there is another inspiration that is often missed.

The Hollywood Tower is a large apartment building on 6200 Franklin Avenue in Los Angeles that was built in 1929. It became “sophisticated living for film luminaries” during the Golden Age of Hollywood and was placed on the Register of Historic Places by the U.S. Department of Interior in 1988.

Source: Abado.com

Its large neon “Hollywood Tower” sign from the side of the building can be seen clearly from the northbound lane of the Hollywood 101 Freeway. It has been cited with its sign and the ascending design of the central building (only seven stories high) as one of the inspirations for the exterior of Florida’s Twilight Zone Tower of Terror attraction. The building gets ample screen time in the Disney comedy Midnight Madness (1980) and was a well known Hollywood landmark.

Speaking of screen time, Tower of Terror shown on October 26, 1997 on ABC’s The Wonderful World of Disney weekly television program was the first film based on a Disney theme park attraction. While it was primarily filmed in Hollywood, some of it was filmed at the attraction in Orlando, Florida.

The roughly ninety-minute movie was written and directed by D.J. McHale who had previously worked as a writer for the Encyclopedia Brown television series as well as several After School Specials and was the co-creator (with Ned Kandel), writer and director on the Nickelodeon tv series Are You Afraid of the Dark?

“I was never a horror fan but I loved scary stories like the compilations of short stories supposedly written by Alfred Hitchcock,” said McHale. “I felt Tower of Terror was really normal people you might know and that you feel like you could relate to, who are caught up in a bigger-than-life adventure. That’s what comes out of my head, I don’t know why, but that’s what comes out.”

The story has only the slightest connection to the storyline of the actual attraction and no reference to the Twilight Zone.

Disgraced reporter Buzzy Crocker (Steve Guttenberg) was fired from the Los Angeles Banner newspaper for submitting a story that turned out to be false. He now works for a sleazy supermarket tabloid called The National Inquisitor assisted by his young niece Anna (a very young Kirsten Dunst).

An elderly woman named Abigail Gregory comes to Buzzy with a story about an incident she witnessed at a now abandoned luxury hotel back in 1939 where five hotel guests mysteriously disappeared. Gregory claims that the nanny of child film star Sally Shine was a witch who cast a curse that backfired. Buzzy feels that if the story is true he might be able to get a job on a legitimate newspaper.

The elevator has been repaired, and using items from the people who had disappeared, an attempt is made to free the ghosts from their curse. However, it turns out that Abigail is actually the jealous sister of Sally and is the one who cast the original curse. Fortunately the two reconcile before everyone is doomed for all eternity.

The other ghosts ascend to the Tip Top Club in all its former glory and then go on to Heaven along with the other party attendees who had also been trapped. With the curse broken, the Hollywood Tower Hotel is restored and re-opened.

It is not surprising that this made-for-television movie is little remembered but it is also another entry on the list of Walt Disney World appearances on film.

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Thanks, Jim!  And come back next Friday for more from Jim Korkis!

In the meantime, check out his books, including his soon-to-be released Vault of Walt Volume 9: Halloween Edition, and Hidden Treasures of the Disney Cruise Line.

Follow yourfirstvisit.net on Facebook or Twitter or Pinterest!!

DISNEY WORLD NEXT WEEK: OCTOBER 3 TO OCTOBER 11, 2020

The material below details next week’s Disney World operating hours, Extra Magic Hours, parades, and fireworks.

Things are … a little different… as Disney World re-opens.  See this for park previews and key insights.

OPERATING HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 10/3-10/11/20

The Magic Kingdom will be open from 9a-7p 10/3 and 10/4, 9a-6p 10/5 through 10/8, and 9a-8p 10/9 through 10/11

Epcot will be open from 11a-9p 10/3 and 10/4, 11a to 7p 10/5 through 10/8, and 11a-9p 10/9 through 10/11

Disney’s Hollywood Studios will be open from 10a-8p 10/3 and 10/4, and 10a-7p 10/5 through 10/11

Disney’s Animal Kingdom will be open from 8a-6p 10/3 and 10/4, 9a-5p 10/5 through 10/8, and 8a-6p 10/9 through 10/11

EXTRA MAGIC HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 10/3-10/11/20

There will be no Extra Magic Hours until further notice.

PARADES AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 10/3-10/11/20

There will be no parades until further notice.

FIREWORKS AND EVENING SHOWS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 10/3-10/11/20

There will be no evening shows until further notice.

SHOW SCHEDULES FOR WALT DISNEY WORLD 10/3-10/11/20

See Steve Soares’ site here. Click the park names at its top for show schedules.

Follow yourfirstvisit.net on Facebook or Twitter or Pinterest!!

Welcome back to Fridays with Jim Korkis! Jim, the dean of Disney historians, writes about Walt Disney World history every Friday on yourfirstvisit.net.

YOUR PERSONAL DISNEY LIBRARY (32)

By Jim Korkis

• The Wonderful World of Disney Television by Bill Cotter

Do you fondly remember the Walt Disney World Celebrity Circus show hosted by Tony Randall that ran on NBC in 1987? Or how about the 1993 syndicated Walt Disney World Journey Into Magic that took a look at many attractions at WDW? Or Kraft Salutes Walt Disney World’s 10th Anniversary that aired on CBS in 1982?

Some of these dozens and dozens of shows only ran once with perhaps one rerun that same year. Some weren’t even on one of the three major networks but were syndicated just in local markets.

After all, the shows presented things that no longer exist at the world’s most popular vacation destination or didn’t showcase popular new additions to WDW so they were quickly considered outdated. If you don’t know the shows even exist or their names and dates, then how can you even begin to try to find them on YouTube or elsewhere?

The Wonderful World of Disney Television: A Complete History is one of the valuable reference books I frequently use when writing articles. In fact, it is still the only resource for Disney television shows. It needs updating and expansion but no one has risen to the occasion to do so and probably never will.

Filled with little-known details, anecdotes, and vital statistics, the book has chapters that fully describe each of the Walt Disney television shows from the anthology series to the Mickey Mouse Club to Zorro to Mouse Factory to Touchstone series and much more. It includes complete schedules of aired episodes, seasonal highlights, production details, behind-the-scenes stories, full cast and crew listings, and plot synopses and much more including fascinating introductory essays for each chapter.

Cotter has his own website and on it, he explained about his book: “During the years I worked for Disney (1976 -1982) I put together a number of employee presentations on the company’s old television shows, using that as an excuse to get these shows out of the vault so I could see them again myself.

“I researched the history of the show to help in introducing them, often tracking down some of the original cast and crew. As time went by I got to be known as the ‘old TV show guy’ and got calls from across the company asking for information.

“The calls continued even after I left Disney making me think there just might be enough interest in the shows for a book. Happily I was eventually able to convince Disney that there was, and they gave me complete access to the Disney Archives.

“After literally years of watching all of the episodes, the result was The Wonderful World of Disney Television, which was released in 1997. When I started writing my book I had no idea what a herculean task it was going to be, or how many pages the book would be. When I finished it turned out I had a little problem. Disney was thinking about a 300 page book. I wrote 1,100 pages.”

Thankfully, that extra material was not lost but perhaps many people don’t know how to obtain it.

Cotter continued, “Thanks to a wonderful editor (Monique Peterson) we ended up with a reasonable compromise, 635 pages. While I would have loved to see all it in print, some of the text had to go to get the book to a salable size. Happily I retained the copyright to the unused material, and have included it in a CD.”

That CD has fifteen appendices covering a bibliography, shows that never were, publications, awards and more. In Adobe Acrobat PDF format, there’s a full 256 pages of material for less than twenty dollars including postage. Cotter is also willing to ship it electronically and save the purchaser postage cost. If you are interested, go here.

Because the information is timeless, even though the book has been around for over two decades, the material remains accurate and helpful. As I said, I consider it a valuable reference volume in my own personal library.

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Thanks, Jim! And come back next Friday for more from Jim Korkis!

In the meantime, check out his books, including his latest, Disney Never Lands, and about planned but unbuilt concepts, and Secret Stories of Walt Disney World: Things You Never You Never Knew, which reprints much material first written for this site, all published by Theme Park Press.

Follow yourfirstvisit.net on Facebook or Twitter or Pinterest!!

DISNEY WORLD NEXT WEEK: SEPTEMBER 26 TO OCTOBER 4, 2020

The material below details next week’s Disney World operating hours, Extra Magic Hours, parades, and fireworks.

Things are … a little different… as Disney World re-opens.  See this for park previews and key insights.

OPERATING HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 9/26-10/4/20

The Magic Kingdom will be open from 9a-7p 9/26 and 9/27, and 9a-6p 9/28 through 10/4

Epcot will be open from 11a-9p 9/26 and 9/27, 11a to 7p 9/28 through 10/2, 11a-8p 10/3, and 11a-7p 10/4

Disney’s Hollywood Studios will be open from 10a-8p 9/26 and 9/27, and 10a-7p 9/28 through 10/4

Disney’s Animal Kingdom will be open from 9a-6p 9/26 and 9/27, and 9a-5p 9/28 through 10/4

EXTRA MAGIC HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 9/26-10/4/20

There will be no Extra Magic Hours until further notice.

PARADES AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 9/26-10/4/20

There will be no parades until further notice.

FIREWORKS AND EVENING SHOWS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 9/26-10/4/20

There will be no evening shows until further notice.

SHOW SCHEDULES FOR WALT DISNEY WORLD 9/26-10/4/20

See Steve Soares’ site here. Click the park names at its top for show schedules.

Follow yourfirstvisit.net on Facebook or Twitter or Pinterest!!